Give Fate a Kick in the Butt

"Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own mind."
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Give Fate a Kick in the Butt

What's your take on fate, the idea that what happens in your life is the result of some kind of overall plan? For many people, it's comforting to think that there is some kind of long term meaning to our existence, some predetermined reason for our lives. Sometimes, though, a belief in destiny can become an EXCUSE. When we use fate as rationale not to work towards a goal, or we blame our problems on some kind of invisible "plan", we are no longer taking a proactive approach to living. No one can say whether fate or destiny does exist, but letting it decide the outcome of your life is, to be blunt, lazy.

Do you ever find yourself saying things like, "If it's meant to be, it will happen" or "If it's in the stars..." - and actually meaning it? Can you think of situations when you left things up to chance instead of taking things into your own hands? I know someone who, for example, who never professed their romantic feelings to a friend with the reasoning that if they were meant to be together, the other person would make the first move. They ended up missing out on the opportunity for a wonderful relationship. I also know someone who decided that a certain career wasn't their destiny after one rejected job application. While it's true that you can't control everything that happens to you, you can certainly decide where you want to go in life, take the necessary steps to get there and stick it out - making the conscious choice to create your own destiny.